Thinking about a mac book

[dawn]

I'm thinking about buying a mac book. But i`m not quite sure. I have never owned a mac. Just PC. So my questions are as following:

1: Can i transfer files between my "old" pc and mac (txt, pictures, videos and so on)?

2: Can i use my phone, scanner, camera and so on with a mac?

3: Are there a lot of program i cant use with my mac (are there alternatives)?

4: Can i use msn, or something like it (with camera)?

5: Does the mac come with pre installed video, txt and photo program (don't want to buy expensive stuff)?

6: Are the programs expensive to buy?

Don`t know if this is the right place to post the questions, but i`m new here. So trying to find my way around. And sorry for my bad English.

 

[juanster]

you can do everything a pc can with a new intel mac. yes, chatting and all of that is also available with macs. Yes most likely you will be bale to use all cameras and stuff with your new mac, and for all thats oftware that macs can't run,,, no problem, just get windows in your mac as well and run them through it,, so a mac can do everyhting a pc can...

 

[xJulianx]

1. Pictures and MP3's will transfer with no problems. Video files aswell, but if you have any WMV's, you will have to download Flip4Mac to play them. As for text files, if they are .txt, they will be fine, but if it's a Word .doc file, you will need Office:Mac to open it.

2. Most probably, check on the Apple website in the iSync section as to wether your phone is compatible, Apple recently updated the phones that iSync is compatible with. If it is not on that list, you will still be able to send/recieve files to and from your phone, it just won't seemlesly work with iCal. You other peripherals should work absolutely fine.

3. If you're coming from a Windows backround, there may well be a few programs you won't be able to run under OSX, but there are plenty of alternatives, you will just have to do some google searching to find them.

4. Yes, Microsoft do a messenger for Mac, there is also Adium and plenty of others. Unfortunately at the moment, none of the Mac messengers support webcam's (I think).

5. Yes, you will get the iLife suite, which includes iTunes for music, iPhoto for photos, Quicktime for videos (though I would reccomend VLC media player). OSX also comes with text edit which can be used for basic word processing.

6. Too vague. Programs you can get for Windows and Mac are generally the same price.

Hope this helps. Try doing a forum search and google search and you should get much more comprehensive answers, as the questions you are asking are very common.

 

[synth3tik]

I'm thinking about buying a mac book. But i`m not quite sure. I have never owned a mac. Just PC. So my questions are as following:

1: Can i transfer files between my "old" pc and mac (txt, pictures, videos and so on)?

2: Can i use my phone, scanner, camera and so on with a mac?

3: Are there a lot of program i cant use with my mac (are there alternatives)?

4: Can i use msn, or something like it (with camera)?

5: Does the mac come with pre installed video, txt and photo program (don't want to buy expensive stuff)?

6: Are the programs expensive to buy?

Don`t know if this is the right place to post the questions, but i`m new here. So trying to find my way around. And sorry for my bad English.

Well let me start by saying that I am sitting across from a friend of mine. He is on his MacBook and has a big stupid grin on his face.

1) there are a few programs to transfer you data from a PC to you new Mac, otherwise you can just have to two computers on a network, or move the data to an external drive.

2) some phones can work and some can't. If your phone is bluetooth you will have no problems what so ever. Your scanner and printer will most likely work. Apple has drivers preinstalled for pretty much every USB printer made.

3) If theres a program you can think of, there is one for mac. Games are the only thing that are not as rampant, but they are there. You can also boot to Win if you want to play a game that is not for mac.

4) you can use MSN but there is also Adium which is an all in one chat app.

5) when you get your new mac it comes preinstalled with iLife 06, which has iMove, iPhoto, iDVD, and iWeb.

6) programs are the same price as for Win, The same companies for the most part make them. There are tons of really cool shareware apps that are between $10-70.

Hope this helps. Good luck, your on the right path to a new computer

 

[Blue Velvet]

Since the others have answered your questions so well, can I ask why you're thinking of getting a Mac Book?

Advertising? Seen them in a shop? Got an iPod? Have friends got a Mac?

Just curious.

 

[LBmtb]

You can use iChat with AOL instant messenger and it works with the iSight camera.

 

[keyben85]

Hi everybody,

I'm also just new in this forum and found this thread one of the best that answer my questions. So you never heard from me before, but thanks, they really help

To answer blue Velvet question, yes I know it wasn't for me, but anywhy... I'm bored

Now, I'm using Windows Vista on a dell, and it really gives me a headache
Some examples: drivers are a real pain in the ass, windows games aren't playing anymore because the location isn't on my pc (really strange, they are there), the help function gives an error when it loads, even a little flash movie make my cpu go to 100%.

Really got enough from that, now I'm deciding to buy a new pc, and why not an apple. I can do serious things on that os, and play games and prog my vb.net progs in windows.

One question, is it possible to have install xp on a partition with bootcamp and run it with parallels when os x is running? Found a lot of info on the net, but they are not so clear.

greetz

Ben

ps: sorry if myEnglish isn't good, languages are not a part of my good skills

 

[dawn]

Since the others have answered your questions so well, can I ask why you're thinking of getting a Mac Book?

Advertising? Seen them in a shop? Got an iPod? Have friends got a Mac?

Just curious.

I have seen some advertising. But thats not the main reason. A friend of mine are thinking about buying one as well. And he took me too a apple store here in town. And i liked the design and everything else about the mac book. And since i was thinking of getting a laptop, i had to try out the one in the store. And was not disappointed. Another thing is that the os are the same, not 10 different versions. And as i understand, they does not got a big virus problem.

Thanks for all the answers. I wont buy a new one until the new os. Or should i? Will the mac book get any new design/hardware? I thought i could upgrade if i bought one now, but if the hardware is getting change, i will wait.

 

[Blue Velvet]

...I wont buy a new one until the new os. Or should i? Will the mac book get any new design/hardware? I thought i could upgrade if i bought one now, but if the hardware is getting change, i will wait.

I'm not too sure about hardware updates; but yes, Leopard and new versions of iLife, which will come for free on your laptop, are just around the corner so it's worth at least waiting for those.

Hang around MacRumors for a bit, do some reading, post a bit and you'll soon know when MacBook updates are due.

 

[xJulianx]

Hang around MacRumors for a bit, do some reading, post a bit and you'll soon know when MacBook updates are due.

Not only will you know about the rumors, but you will learn alot obout OSX. I am a relatively new Mac user (just shy of 2 years) and without MacRumors I would know alot less about how to use my MacBook.

If you find a specific question that you want the answer to, try doing a forum search and it's very likely your question will have been covered before, much quicker than posting a new thread and waiting for replies.

 

[ruZZ.il]

Hi everybody,

...and play games...

One question, is it possible to have install xp on a partition with bootcamp and run it with parallels when os x is running? Found a lot of info on the net, but they are not so clear.

if you intend on playing any graphic-intensive games.. you should maybe look into a macbook pro. whilst the macbooks are sufficient for most things, they dont have a dedicated graphics processor.. so.. let us know what kind of stuff you intend on doing with it, kind of games you play..

about XP, well, yes (and to answere the origional question on this post : yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.. ) so heres the thing:

if you have XP installed on its own partition and running on bootcam, you get the FULL functionality/speed/performance of your machine if you boot from bootcamp. you CAN boot that partition in parallels while in OSX but you CANT put your virtual machine(VM) to sleep(standby) in parallels (bootcamp is recommended for games!)

if you install XP only as a VM, you wont get the full specs of your machine (like for running games, or heavy processes ). it is sufficient for most normal apps though! you can also put your VM in 'standby' so it wakes up quickly, etc.. really convenient. I run XP this way and I use it mostly for origin, a data analysis/presentation program.. untill I get the full version of MATLAB for intel macs and for a few other little things.. (like stupid websites)

hope this helps.

 

[Cheffy Dave]

Since the others have answered your questions so well, can I ask why you're thinking of getting a Mac Book?

Advertising? Seen them in a shop? Got an iPod? Have friends got a Mac?

Just curious.

Just dropped in to add my two cents to these excellent forums. I want a Mac book, because I am sick of windoze. I build em, repair em, update them.Half my hard drive is "fixes". I want to learn something new, was very,(and still am) impressed by my older Shuffle and i Tunes. I have since bought 3 Nano's for other family members,(who also have fallen in love with i-Pods). What am I waiting for?, Santa Rosa and hopefully the new LED screens, and maybe flash memory. ummm, then then there is the rumored mini laptop.......
I'm switching, at 59 years old, I'm switching..... bout time

 

[dawn]

Thank you for a lot of good answers. I think i will go for a mac book when the new os is finished, or should i wait and see if the mac book get new hardware?

Its time to try something new!

 

[dartzorichalcos]

Thank you for a lot of good answers. I think i will go for a mac book when the new os is finished, or should i wait and see if the mac book get new hardware?

Its time to try something new!

At least wait for Leopard because you have to pay $200 for it if you wanted to get it when you bought a Mac right now. Why not get more for the same amount of money.

 

[keyben85]

if you intend on playing any graphic-intensive games.. you should maybe look into a macbook pro. whilst the macbooks are sufficient for most things, they dont have a dedicated graphics processor.. so.. let us know what kind of stuff you intend on doing with it, kind of games you play..

about XP, well, yes (and to answere the origional question on this post : yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.. ) so heres the thing:

if you have XP installed on its own partition and running on bootcam, you get the FULL functionality/speed/performance of your machine if you boot from bootcamp. you CAN boot that partition in parallels while in OSX but you CANT put your virtual machine(VM) to sleep(standby) in parallels (bootcamp is recommended for games!)

if you install XP only as a VM, you wont get the full specs of your machine (like for running games, or heavy processes ). it is sufficient for most normal apps though! you can also put your VM in 'standby' so it wakes up quickly, etc.. really convenient. I run XP this way and I use it mostly for origin, a data analysis/presentation program.. untill I get the full version of MATLAB for intel macs and for a few other little things.. (like stupid websites)

hope this helps.

playing games is not the main reason to buy a pc. So I don't play a lot of games but sometimes I'm curious about the new things. I've got some older versions of splinter cell, hitman, ... So I think ther are not so graphic-intensive.

But main reason of buying a mac, i'm studying informatic, multimedia so I'm hoping a mac give me some more flexibility to work with. I don't want to wait 5 minutes to run something I design on my vista pc. And no, it's not an old pc (P4,2gig ram, 256 gpu).

about the whole parallels, bootcamp thing I'm really think I'm going to enjoy playing with them. Thx for the answer